did someone ask for rain?

...because it landed here on Thursday. I'm not talking about your usual Melbournian shower for a couple of hours, it rained Hard.

All. Day.

Which, despite the best efforts of a plastic bag inside my backpack, still left me with a wet shirt after the ride to work. Could have been worse I guess, still, I don't like having to pull on wet clothes for the ride home. Not that that makes much differerence when it's still raining...

On Tuesday we caught up with my cousin Dave (brother of Juliet whom I saw last week) and his partner, on their way back to China via Brisbane (what is it that seems to make all Kiwis end up in Brisbane at some point in their life?). We only had enough time for them to come over after dinner and sit around for a chat, but it was good to hear all the stories about their life in China.

We got some more furniture on TradeMe this week, so now we have an entertainment unit to add to the random collection. Highly functional as we have no TV to put on it yet, but I guess that's in keeping with the minimalist ethos that has so far provided a dining table with no chairs (booked in for May purchase), and a couch but no coffee table...

A few hours of the usual IKEA-type assembly (lucky I packed the screwdrivers, but I would have loved to have my cordless drill on hand...), and a few profanities later and everything was together.

We picked up the unit from the North Shore (ie, across the harbour bridge) and stopped off for a look around at the local beaches, shopping and markets. Not a very good day for it though, a bit drab. The tide comes right in to completely cover the sand, leaving seaweed everywhere, so the beaches aren't that picturesque.

Jo was particularly taken by a party pill shop. Never seen a dedicated one before, but there are quite a few cafes etc with petition forms rallying to keep BZP based party pills legal in NZ. I'm sure the neuropsych readers out there will be thrilled by that one...

We'll show you some pictures of the miscellaneous "pets" soon, and the veggie garden's progress (the spinach, basil and lettuce are going well, but something is eating little holes in the oregano).

love,

matt and jo